Missing Sex Offender Captured In Houston

EDGEWOOD—A convicted sex offender who fled Edgewood has been captured in the Houston area, investigating officer Robert Dearing of the Edgewood Police Department said Thursday.

Ramiro Rene Cortez, 28, was arrested earlier this week on three felony warrants issued by the Edgewood Police Department for failure to register as a sex offender.

Dearing said Cortez was released from the Texas Department of Corrections and settled in Edgewood in early January.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Public Sex Offender Registry, Cortez was convicted on two offenses of aggravated sexual assault of a child involving one 12-year-old and one 13-year-old, both female.

"About mid-January, he left on a bus for Houston and never reported that he was leaving. He also never reported to Houston (Police Department)," Dearing said.

After failing to meet state requirements of reporting his place of residence every 90 days, the warrants were obtained, Dearing said. He added that Cortez also failed to provide police with identification or a driver’s license within a 30-day period.

"We notified Harris County and Houston PD that he was believed to be in their location. They located him sometime this week," he said, but did not have any more specific information on the arrest.

Dearing added that Cortez was being transported to the Van Zandt County Jail.